Active device to enable the use of legacy-equipment in higher return band splits

Abstract

Devices and methods for enabling the use of legacy-equipment in light of evolving and conflicting standards used by new-equipment are provided. When a standard for transmission on a network conflicts with an existing standard, legacy-equipment, which uses the existing standard, may prevent the implementation of new-equipment, which uses a new or updated standard, on the network. Although many standards strive for backwards compatibility or interoperability with other standards, not all standards are compatible, or they achieve backwards compatibility by disabling features of new-equipment until legacy-equipment has been upgraded or removed from the network. Devices and methods therefore are provided to isolate legacy-equipment and new-equipment so that the new features of evolving standards may be implemented for new-equipment without materially impacting the operation of legacy-equipment.

I claim: 
     
       1. A device for enabling concurrent use of new-equipment and legacy-equipment on a wired network, comprising:
 a service provider interface, operable to receive downstream signals from a service provider and to transmit upstream signals to the service provider; 
 a legacy-equipment interface, operable to receive upstream signals from the legacy-equipment and transmit downstream signals to the legacy-equipment; 
 a new-equipment interface, operable to receive upstream signals from the new-equipment and transmit downstream signals to the new-equipment; 
 a splitter, having terminals to transmit and receive signals, including a common terminal, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the splitter being operable to split signals received at one of the terminals for transmission via other terminals and to combine signals received at two of the terminals for transmission via a remaining terminal, wherein the second terminal is in communication with the new-equipment interface; 
 a crossover filter, in communication with the first terminal and the legacy-equipment interface, the crossover filter having characteristics to prevent selected portions of signals generated by the new-equipment from being received by the legacy-equipment; 
 a band filter, in communication with the first terminal and the legacy-equipment interface, the band filter having characteristics to prevent selected portions of signals transmitted from the first terminal from being received by the legacy-equipment; and 
 a point of entry (POE) filter, in communication with the service provider interface and the common terminal, the POE filter having characteristics to prevent selected portions of signals transmitted between the new-equipment and the legacy-equipment from being transmitted to the service provider. 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a power over coax (POC) filter in communication with the new-equipment interface and the second terminal, having characteristics to filter power signals from signals generated by the new-equipment; and 
 a power supply in communication with the POC filter, the power supply having characteristics to transform power signals to an appropriate voltage, convert transformed power signals from alternating current to direct current, and provide direct current power signals to the device. 
 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 2 , wherein the converted power signal is used to amplify at least one of:
 signals generated by the new-equipment; 
 signals generated by the service provider; and 
 signals generated by the legacy-equipment. 
 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a down-converter in communication with the band filter and the first terminal, the down-converter having characteristics to frequency shift selected portions of signals generated by the service provider to produce heterodynes, wherein the legacy-equipment is not operable to receive those portions of signals generated by the service provider but is operable to receive the heterodynes. 
 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the device is operable to replace an entry splitter for a home installation. 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a selector in communication with the crossover filter, having characteristics to enable selection of a first setting for the device and a second setting for the device; 
 wherein the first setting enables the crossover filter to prevent selected portions of signals generated by the new-equipment from being received by the legacy-equipment according to a first frequency range; and 
 wherein the second setting enables the crossover filter to prevent selected portions of signals generated by the new-equipment from being received by the legacy-equipment according to a second frequency range. 
 
     
     
       7. The device of  claim 6 , wherein the selector is further in communication with a down-converter in communication with the band filter and the first terminal, the down-converter having characteristics to frequency shift portions of signals generated by the service provider to produce heterodynes, wherein the legacy-equipment is not operable to receive those portions of the signal generated by the service provider but is operable to receive the heterodynes;
 wherein the first setting disables the down-converter; and 
 wherein the second setting enables the down-converter. 
 
     
     
       8. A method for enabling concurrent use of new-equipment and legacy-equipment on a wired network, comprising:
 receiving a downstream signal from a service provider formatted according to a new standard, wherein the new standard conflicts with a legacy standard; 
 splitting the downstream signal from the service provider into a legacy-equipment-destined signal and a new-equipment-destined signal; 
 delivering the new-equipment-destined signal to the new-equipment; 
 filtering selected frequencies from the legacy-equipment-destined signal such that the legacy-equipment-destined signal complies with the legacy standard; 
 delivering the legacy-equipment-destined signal to the legacy-equipment; 
 receiving an upstream signal transmitted from the new-equipment formatted according to the new standard; 
 receiving an upstream signal transmitted from the legacy-equipment formatted according to the legacy standard; 
 filtering selected frequencies from the upstream signal transmitted from the legacy-equipment such that the filtered upstream signal transmitted from the legacy-equipment complies with the new standard; 
 combining the filtered upstream signal transmitted from the legacy-equipment and the upstream signal transmitted from the new-equipment into a combined signal; and 
 transmitting the combined signal to the service provider. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising filtering the combined signal via a low-pass filter to prevent frequencies higher than 1.2 GHz from being transmitted to the service provider. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising filtering the upstream signal from the new-equipment to draw power from the upstream signal from the new-equipment. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8 , wherein downstream signals from the service provider include a message destined for the legacy-equipment carried at frequencies higher than the legacy-equipment can receive, further comprising:
 shifting the message to a lower frequency that the legacy-equipment is operable to receive. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 selecting a first setting or a second setting by which the selected frequencies from the legacy-equipment-destined signal are filtered; 
 wherein the first setting blocks frequencies between 54 MHz and 85 MHz; and 
 wherein the second setting blocks frequencies between 54 MHz and 200 MHz. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the new standard is version 3.1 of Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specifications (DOCSIS) and the legacy standards are version 2.0 of Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) standard and version 3.0 of DOCSIS. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the method is performed at an entry point for a building containing the wired network. 
     
     
       15. An article of manufacture for enabling concurrent use of new-equipment and legacy-equipment on a wired network, comprising:
 a service provider interface, to receive signals from a service provider and transmit signals to the service provider; 
 a legacy-equipment interface, to receive signals generated by the legacy-equipment and transmit signals to the legacy-equipment; 
 a new-equipment interface, to receive signals generated by the new-equipment and transmit signals to the new-equipment; 
 a point of entry (POE) filter in communication with the service provider interface, having characteristics to block signals transmitted between the new-equipment and the legacy-equipment on the wired network from transmission to the service provider; 
 a splitter having a common terminal in communication with the POE filter, a first terminal, and a second terminal, the splitter having characteristics to split signals received at the common terminal for transmission via each of the first terminal and the second terminal, the splitter having further characteristics to combine signals received at the first terminal with signals received at the second terminal for transmission to the service provider via the common terminal; 
 a down-converter in communication with the first terminal of the splitter, having characteristics to receive portions of signals destined for the legacy-equipment to create heterodynes of the portions of signals destined for the legacy-equipment; 
 a band filter in communication with the down-converter, having characteristics to filter selected frequencies from signals generated by the legacy-equipment that conflict with signals generated by the new-equipment; 
 a crossover filter in communication with the band filter and the legacy-equipment interface, having characteristics to filter selected frequencies from signals destined for the legacy-equipment; 
 a power over coax (POC) filter in communication with the second terminal of the splitter and the new-equipment interface, having characteristics to filter power from signals generated by the new-equipment; and 
 a power supply in communication with the POC filter and the down-converter, having characteristics to condition power filtered from signals generated by the new-equipment to provide the down-converter with power. 
 
     
     
       16. The article of manufacture of  claim 15 , further including a selector operable to change between a first setting and a second setting;
 wherein the first setting modifies the crossover filter to have characteristics to block frequencies between 54 MHz and 85 MHz; and 
 wherein the second setting modifies the crossover filter to have characteristics to block frequencies between 54 MHz and 200 MHz. 
 
     
     
       17. The article of manufacture of  claim 16 , wherein the first setting further disables the down-converter, and wherein the second setting enables the down-converter. 
     
     
       18. The article of manufacture of  claim 15 , wherein the down-converter has characteristics to block frequencies between 54 MHz and 105 MHz;
 wherein portions of signals destined for the legacy-equipment have frequencies greater than 105 MHz; and 
 wherein heterodynes have frequencies between 54 MHz and 105 MHz. 
 
     
     
       19. The article of manufacture of  claim 15 , wherein the band filter is a band-reject filter having characteristics to block frequencies between 1.1 and 1.2 GHz. 
     
     
       20. The article of manufacture of  claim 15 , wherein the POE filter is a low-pass filter having characteristics to block signals of frequencies greater than 1.2 GHz.